Having a hard time getting the kids to eat their veggies? Here's a great way to encourage them to enjoy doing what's good for them: transform their vegetables into neat little LEGO bricks!
Steps
- Pick the right vegetables. Many veggies are suitable, including carrots, potatoes, squash, rutabagas, etc. You could also use firm tofu and add a food color to the water, which the tofu will soak up. You can do this with the veggies, too. Be bold!
- Prepare your veggies. Boil or steam the vegetables so that they're soft but not mushy. Soak them for a couple minutes in salt water. This will make them a little firmer by drawing out some of the moisture.
- Cut the vegetables into cube shapes. As with real LEGO pieces, you'll need to decide what bricks you'd like to make: a single stud square brick, the four stud square, or the six stud rectangle. ("Stud" refers to the little bumps on top of real LEGO bricks).
- Poke a straw all the way through the vegetable. This will create a round hole and will push out the inside of the vegetable brick. Be sure to match holes with the LEGO stud arrangement you're creating.
- Using a toothpick, push the stud from the bottom of the vegetable brick until it sticks out of the top. This ensures that it looks like a LEGO brick, complete with studs!
- Check that the studs are evenly positioned across the top by looking at the brick sideways. If it's not, carefully press a stud back in, or poke one farther out.
- Serve with a smile on a colorful plate. Your kids will be delighted!
Tips
- The time required for boiling vegetables is different for each type––use your own cooking knowledge to judge, or check in a vegetable cookbook.
- You can also use other foods such as broccoli, sausage and cheese, Japanese omelets, fruits, and firm jellies or Jello.
- If the straw gets stuck when inserted in the vegetable cube, cut off a small slit as shown in the photo and this should remedy the problem.
Things You'll Need
- Vegetables you'd like your kids to eat and that can be cut into cubes or rectangles (carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes, squash, turnips, rutabagas, beets, pumpkin, etc.)
- Plastic straw.
- Pot, or microwave with bowl (heat resistant) for boiling.
- Salt.
- Toothpick, bamboo skewer, or chopstick for poking studs.
- Knife and cutting board
- Food coloring.
Related wikiHows
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Make Vegetable LEGO Bricks. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.
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